U.S. tech giants turn to nuclear as AI demand pressures the grid

As artificial intelligence workloads accelerate, so does the demand for electricity. That puts new pressure on a grid that was not designed for the scale and speed of current needs. In a new episode of “Cyber Focus,” Aaron Larson, executive editor of Power Magazine, described how data centers are reshaping the energy landscape – and how some of the biggest U.S. tech companies are now turning to nuclear power to meet their projected requirements.

Microsoft is among the firms supporting efforts to restart retired nuclear plants, including Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island Unit One, which has been offline since 2019. Other projects include bringing Michigan’s Palisades facility back online and investing in small modular reactors that can be sited closer to demand.

“We’re hearing about data centers almost daily,” Larson said. “Tech companies are actually going out, sourcing their own power. They’re making deals with nuclear power developers,” he said, adding “these are really important developments.”

Larson, a former Navy chief petty officer with more than a decade of experience in nuclear power and host of the “Power Podcast,” noted that after years of slow movement “they are moving much more quickly today than they used to,” thanks in part to designs that are “inherently safe” and more flexible to deploy.

But while U.S. firms ramp up private-sector investment in nuclear, China is pressing ahead on all fronts. “They really are developing more wind and more nuclear and more solar than anywhere else in the world,” Larson said. “They are just putting so much money into energy that we honestly can’t let them take the lead on all of these things that we have been so involved in over the years.”

China’s aggressive energy investment is drawing attention not only for its scope, but for its implications. While the U.S. once led in nuclear development, Larson warned that “we’ve let them kind of take over. But I think we’re coming back. We’ve got a lot of innovative companies here working on advanced reactors.”

Frank Cilluffo, director of Auburn University’s McCrary Institute and host of “Cyber Focus,” framed the issue in strategic terms: “If we want to be AI dominant, we can’t do that if we’re not energy dominant. The two are inextricably interwoven, hand in glove.”

Hear the full conversation and subscribe to the “Cyber Focus” podcast here.